


Cornbread from Nothing

by marreena



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Backstory, Childhood, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-10-10 19:42:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10445952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marreena/pseuds/marreena
Summary: Going hungry helps you learn all sorts of tricks.





	

**Author's Note:**

> this is my daily thanks @ griff for lup 
> 
> also, uh, this fic is a bit personal because cha kid also grew up a bit poor and i would have killed to have magic like taako

Dinners on the caravan with the Sonder's were nothing that Taako looked forward to. 

The cook didn’t know a leek from an onion or a cucumber from a zucchini, and worst of all, he refused to even let Taako anywhere near the kitchen cart. Too prideful of his cooking after Taako made a snide comment about his completely flat banana bread he made a month ago that tasted like he threw in some gravel instead of yeast. Wouldn’t surprise him with how Lup’s pretty sure she caught him pocketing half the grocery money instead of actually putting it to good use and _feeding them_. 

Lup nearly tried to confront him, but they’ve only been on this caravan for a month and they don’t wanna risk getting thrown off just yet. They’re too far from Neverwinter or New Elfington to be able to easily find a new ride to hitch yet. 

Still, it all fucking sucks. 

They got fed last—they were last on the list for too many reasons: newest members, youngest members, and they’re just the people who clean up the caravans after the show, nothing more. The cook, Amar, had to scrape the pans to get them enough food, and most of the time he just gave them one serving— _what aren’t twins used to sharing?_  


“Fuck him,” Taako grumbles and takes a begrudging bite. They had made sure to sit decently far away on a log from the caravan, but still in sight just so they don’t get left behind incase they might have to make a break for it for any reason.

 Beans weren’t bad—his Auntie made the best beans _ever_  and his Momma’s beans and rice were some of his favorite meals—but Amar puts no seasoning in them whatsoever. Bland is almost a compliment as he feels like he’s eating sand mash. 

Lup takes a bite after him, barely able to choke it down and sticking her tongue out afterwards, but she had to eat it. They only had a cup of beans between them and a stale piece of flatbread from nearly a week ago that was nearing closer to a cracker at this point. “I wish he’d just eat shit, already,” she mutters.

“Isn’t that what he eats every night?” Taako snickers and she joins him, elbowing him in the side. 

“Fuckin’ makes us eat it too. _Horrible_ ,” she moans and rests her head on his shoulder. “I don’t think I can eat anymore, Taak.” 

He rolls his shoulder, pushing her off, “Ya gotta. Who knows if we’ll get breakfast tomorrow. Here,” he breaks off a piece of the bread and pushes it at her mouth. 

She sighs but takes it, knowing he’s right.

It’s then that he remembers. “Oh! Lup! I actually had an idea!”

“Oh _really_ ,” she drawls, teasingly.

He sticks his tongue out at her and then points at the flatbread. He desperately tries to remember the phrase and the hand motion and he _thinks_  he gets it right but it’s hard sometimes going from something in a book to real life. In one moment, there’s the flatbread, and the next, it’s transformed into a jalapeño cornbread muffin, just like how his Auntie used to make.

He’s absolutely shocked that it worked, and Lup is also there gaping with him. “Taako!” she shouts and then hushes herself. She looks up at him with eyes that match his own, a question, and he nods. Quickly, she snatches it up and takes a big bite. 

He’s nervous and watches her expression. He’s a good cook in the kitchen, but this is just a bit different and he’s not really the best with magic yet—and neither is Lup yet either if the singed tips of her hair are any evidence. Her eyes widen and she breaks out in a smile and then holds it out for him to take a bite too. 

It…tastes like his Auntie’s. Maybe a little off but there’s no doubt in his mind that it isn’t a piece of stale flatbread anymore. 

“You’re amazing!” she shouts and throws her arms around him, nuzzling him a bit while also taking another bite. 

He grins, “I know, I know, I am the better twin, after all.” 

Lup immediately untangles from him, “Now, I wouldn’t say that. Remember that one time we were caught in the rain and I started that fire? Saved us there.” 

“You blew up a tree!”

“And it started a fire!” 

“You nearly blew _us_  up!”

She pouts, “Well, guess that’s the last time I ever help you.” Her eyes then turn to the cup of beans, “Well if _you’re_  so great, why don’t you turn the beans too, bubba?” 

He sticks his tongue out at her, “ _Easy_ for the better twin.” He points at the bowl again and tries to do the same thing over again. He thinks of just how his Momma’s spell book explained it and everything. 

The cup turns into water and that and the beans fall to the ground. They both yelp and jump up off the log. “It was supposed to be soup!” 

“Uh huh!” she crosses her arms and toes at the mess on the ground. “I mean, I guess I didn’t really wanna finish it anyway.” 

“It was supposed to be soup,” he mutters again and he tries to cast the spell again, but he’s dried up. 

“No more spell slots?” she guesses and he nods. Fuck, he should really try to get some spell components next time they’re in town—and by get, he means steal, because fuck those vendors really don’t sell that stuff for a fair price. 

“Taako, you can turn anything into _food_ ,” she eagerly whispers to him and grabs his hands. “We don’t have to go hungry ever again."

**Author's Note:**

> soon i'll have all of lup and taak's backstory mapped out just give me a day or two


End file.
